Self righting cup



July 1, 1952 T, P. WALL SELF+RIGHTING CUP Filed April 22, 1946 THOMAS P.WALL INVEN TOR.

ATTORNEY Patented July 1, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SELF RIGHTINGCUP Thomas P. Wall, Seattle, Wash.

Application April 22, 1946, Serial No. 663,879

4 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to a self-righting cup and, moreparticularly, to the combination of a, self-righting cup and a splashshield therefor.

In the past it has been a great source of annoyance to mothers withsmall children to have them spill their cups or glasses of milk, orother liquid, when placed on the table beside them. Applicant hasconstructed a device which will largely eliminate the spilling of milkin any quantity when a cup or glass is accidentally tipped over.

Having in mind these defects in the prior art it is an object of thepresent invention to construct a self-righting cup.

A further object of the present invention is the construction of asplash shield which may be readily inserted and removed from a cupopening to prevent large quantities of liquid spilling out of the cupwhen it is tipped over.

Yet another object of the present invention is the devising of a splashshield for a cup which can be readily inserted and removed by hand andwithout the use of tools or appliances.

Yet another object of the present invention is the construction of asplash shield for a cup which will allow the ready drinking of liquidfrom the cup, will return excess liquid to the cup when it is upright,and which will restrain the liquid from escaping from the cup when it isupset.

A device which will remedy many of the defects of the prior art andachieve the objects as set forth above, is shown in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a cup embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevational view with an enlarged corner of thecup as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the device as shown in Figures 1 and 2.

The cup shown in the drawings has a conical body I, having on one sidethereof a handle 2, and a bottom end closed by an outwardly convexportion 3. Inside of the cup, and spaced from the convex bottom 3, is afalse bottom 4, which is sealed around its edges to the inside of thecup. In the space formed by the convex bottom 3 and the false bottom 4there is placed a weighted mass, such as a mass of lead shot 5, whichmay be invested in some sort of a plastic mass to keep it from shiftingabout.

Adjacent the lip of the cup, and inside thereof, is an arcuate-sectionedinternal annular groove 6. Seated in this groove by its peripheral edgeis a splash shield 1. This splash shield l is dish shaped,concavo-convex, in form and thin in section, with a cylindrical edgeportion 8 that fits in the annular groove 6. The splash shield l isinserted in the cup so that it is downwardly dished. The splash shieldhas formed in its center a small opening 9 for drainage of any liquidcollecting in the depression. Along. the edge of the splash shield l isformed a drinking recess Ill, which allows the removal, of a smallamount of liquid at a time from the cup when the shield is in placethereon. When liquid is flowing through the recess H], the opening 9serves as an air vent.

The present device may be constructed of any suitable material,preferably one of the newer organic plastics, which gives an object thatis translucent or clear, and light in weight, but which will stand muchabuse in the way of droping or pounding. Sucha material will also give asplash guard that is resilient, will snap into place in the seatinggroove and may be easily removed therefrom.

In the operation of the present device, the splash shield 1 isorientated with the drinking recess to one side or the other of the cup,depending upon whether the user is right handed or left handed, and thenpressed downwardly into the cup. The shield should be of such a sizethat it fits snugly and snaps firmly and securely into the groove. Whenproperly constructed the shield will seat in the groove with two linesof contact around the cup, one at the bottom of the groove 6 and one atthe top thereof. This makes a very secure seal between the cup and theshield so that if the cup is tipped over with a liquid therein therewill be little chance of leakage by the edge thereof.

The splash guard may be removed by pressing down on one side thereof,preferably at the drinking recess I0. Pressing down on one side willcause the shield to tip, when it may be easily removed. The insertionand removal of the shield is facilitated by the body of the cup beingconical. This means that the edge of the splash shield will easily passthe top edge of the groove 6 and will seat solidly against the loweredge thereof. Also the tapering of the cup prevents the splash shieldfrom being pressed to the bottom thereof in a level position. Whentipped on edge the shield may be forced to the bottom of the cup butotherwise it is very difficult.

Shot is placed in the bottom of the cu between the convex portion andthe false bottom, and the false bottom is sealed in place by anyconvenient and well-known means. This weighted bottom will cause the cupto right itself even with a liquid therein when it is tipped over, theexact shape of the bottom and the amount of weight placed thereindetermining the righting force that will be exerted for maintaining thecup in an upri position. Generally, all that is needed is a cientrighting moment to bring the cup back when it is brought part way over,as it is seldom that a cup is pushed all the way over and held down. Itmay be admitted that if the cup is tipped over so that the drinkingrecess I is at the bottom portion of the cup when tipped, that someliquid will spill out this drinking opening I0 but the quantity thatwill spill therefrom is small in comparison to that which would spillout if the shield were not in place.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A weighted self-righting conical cup having interior thereof, formedin the side wall thereof, and adjacent its lip an annular groove; andseated in said groove a splash shield having formed therein a smallcentrally situated opening and a marginally located drinking recess.

2. A weighted self-righting conical cup having an outwardly convexbottom, a false bottom, a weighted mass between said convex and falsebottoms, an annular groove formed in the inside of the side wall of saidcup and adjacent the lip thereof, and a splash shield adapted to form aclosure for said cup, 'said shield being in the form of a concave-convexthin sheet disc having a rim adapted, to seat in said groove, and saidshield having formed in its rim a notch so that when said shield isseated in said groove liquid may be removed from said cup through saidnotch.

3. A weighted self-righting conical cup having an outwardly convexbottom, a false bottom, a weighted mass between said convex and falsebottoms, an annular groove arcuate in cross section formed in the insideof the side wall of said cup and adjacent the lip thereof, and a splashshield adapted to form a closure for said cup, said shield being in theform of a concavo-convex thin sheet disc, said shield having acylindrical rim portion adapted to fit in said groove, and said shieldhaving formed in said rim portion a notch so that when said shield isseated in said groove liquid may be removed from said cup through saidnotch.

4. The combination of a Weighted self-righting drinking cup having aconvexly rounded exterior bottom, and an interior bottom, and a weightedmass between said exterior and interior bottoms, and a splash shieldremovably fitted to the rim portion of the cup and forming a closure forsuch cup, said splash shield being of concavo-convex form having itsconcave side facing upward and having a marginally located drinkingopening, and in addition thereto an air vent opening located at the baseof its concavity.

THOMAS P. WALL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 225,785' Beattie Mar. 23, 1880566,563 Derr Aug. 25, 1896 577,090 Wenzel Feb. 16, 1897 679,610 EckertJuly 30, 1901 901,762 Wetzel Oct. 20, 1908 1,254,251 Magnus Jan. 22,1918 2,012,113 Thompson Aug. 20, 1935 2,093,133 Low Sept. 14, 19372,358,600 Selten Sept. 19, 1944 2,414,697 Pettersson Jan. 21, 19472,437,784 Laskin Mar. 16, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date664,742 France Sept. 6, 1929

